@MoeJLong@DemocraticWins Fleeing Texas seems to be the norm for Republican Senators of Texas. Remember when Ted Cruz fled Texas for warmer weather during the snowstorm where some of his constituents froze to death?
@NBCNews Use that money for SNAP, Medicare and taking care of people who actually need it. This spending with this administration is really getting out of control!
@hypocritseeker@nytimes And yet, all the wealthy aren’t leaving NYC even after Mandani was elected and is implementing higher taxes. That should tell you something. Even the incremental higher taxes aren’t felt by these wealthy people - they make so much that it’s a blip to them to pay some more.
@Scott4293@kcuFsnacilbupeR@nytimes@FoxNews You realize that even Fox News admitted to not being real news and said that they were entertainment only, right? Then they paid a huge fine (close to a billion) for lying to the public.
@LibsHurtingUSA@mjfree Will get a nice lax prison like Trump’s buddy Ghislaine. Maybe even secretly “unalived” in prison but actually has a new identity in a new town in podunk USA.
@realgeorgie@Polymarket China is a communist society that doesn’t allow their billionaires to run off without taking responsibility (contributing to society via taxes or withholdings). They ensure everyone gets a place to live and food to eat. Does USA do that???
@Ni4Ni2025@CBSNews You already need that to register to vote (and be on the voter rolls). Why do it again? It’s a waste of time and effort at the ballot boxes. It would be like having to go through TSA security at the airport entrance, the security checkpoint, and when boarding the plane. Waste!
An Auntie Anne’s original pretzel cost about $3.50 in 2009. Today it’s $7.29. The pretzel tracked inflation almost perfectly.
The pretzel is accidentally the most honest inflation tracker in America. It’s priced in flour, sugar, labor, commercial rent, and energy. Every cost that went up in 17 years is baked into that $7.29. One mall receipt tells you more about the economy than most dashboards.
Now do the rest. Gas in 2009 averaged $2.35 a gallon. Today it’s $3.81. Up 62%. The median U.S. home sold for $172,000 in 2009. The latest FRED data has it at $405,300. Up 136%. Average public university tuition went from about $7,000 to $12,000. Up 71%. Health insurance premiums for a family of four went from $13,000 to over $24,000. Up 85%.
Every price in the economy moved. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 was set on July 24, 2009. It has not changed once in 6,088 days. $7.25 in 2009 had the purchasing power of $10.47 today. That’s a 30% silent pay cut delivered one year at a time, while the number on the check never moved.
In 2009, $7.25 bought two Auntie Anne’s pretzels. In 2026, it doesn’t buy one.
The dollar lost 30% of its value. The pretzel adjusted. The wage didn’t.